Christmas nightmare as family cash and car stolen

A FATHER says his Christmas has been ruined by callous thieves who raided his home while the family slept and took all their money to buy presents.

Michael Wright, 29, said burglars crept into his house in Bellenden Gardens at the Inch on Monday night, making off with a wallet, a purse and his £6000 Ford Fiesta.

The security guard said the robbery had left him feeling “violated” and fearful because his five-year-old son, Shane, was also sleeping upstairs.

The thieves escaped in Mr Wright’s white Ford Fiesta with £200 that had been saved up for Christmas shopping.

“It’s completely devastating what they have done,” he said.

“We were planning on dropping Shane off at school and doing his Christmas shopping.

“We were going to buy computer games for his PlayStation.”

Mr Wright, who had left his front door unlocked because he was expecting relatives to arrive later that night, said some Christmas presents had been stored upstairs and fortunately hadn’t been found by the burglars.

“I went to my bed at about 11pm and the car was there, but when I woke up to take my son to school about 8am the car was gone,” he said.

“I spoke to a neighbour that came home at 6am who said my car wasn’t there at that time,” Mr Wright said.

“So it must have happened between midnight and 6am – and they took every penny.

“My wallet was on the top of the fireplace, while my laptop was in front of the fireplace, but they didn’t take it or my iPad. All the kitchen drawers were open.”

Mr Wright, who works for the firm Securitas, said he had bought the Ford Fiesta last month for £5700.

“My dad was supposed to be staying with me, but he wasn’t in when I went to bed, so I left the door open with the key on the inside of the door,” said Mr Wright.

“We slept in that morning and we were rushing about, so it was only when we were about to leave that I saw the car was missing.”

Mr Wright has urged anyone with information about the robbery to come forward and report it to the police. “This act just before Christmas is the lowest of the low,” he said.

“I’m going to try my hardest not to let this spoil Christmas for my son.

“He’s five and will be grateful for whatever he receives.”

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Within ten minutes details of the vehicle were immediately circulated to police officers across Edinburgh and a ‘stolen’ marker was added to the Police National Computer.

“We would urge the public to always lock their doors prior to retiring for the evening or leaving your home unoccupied.”